Another teaser from Ben at OR: Forthcoming Hydrolight apparel from UD. Looks like a skirt with integrated hydration storage, right?

There’s a little race going on this weekend in Alaska that I’ll be watching. The Crow Pass Crossing is a mere 22 miles, but the field includes Zach Miller, David Laney, and some really, really tough Alaskans. My eyes are on Scott Patterson, the Olympic nordic skier who also dabbles in trail running…and when he dabbles, he wins. Tim Tollefson was registered until recently…not sure what happened, but would’ve loved to see him in a race like this. Short write up here.

I’m not familiar enough with the Alaskan trail scene to identify top women…every single entrant is Alaskan except for one Hawaiian at the very bottom of the list. FTR, my money is on the Alaskans.

It seems some of these folks runners are holding off for Matanuska Peak Challenge the next weekend…that’s a mere 13 miles, but it’s got 16k’ of total vert and an average grade of 23%. Ho-lee crap-ola. No pre-registration, just show up on race day, pay $30 and prepare to hurt.

And speaking about sub-ultramarathon-distance-but-totally-bonkers-vert races, why had I never heard of the Mt Fuji Mountain Race? Twelve miles with 9k’ of gain? Yikes! And check out the first female…she busted her arm the week before the race and won with a heavy cast.

I’ll also be watching the Minnesota Voyageur in the midwest. (More on the race right here, including a “wide open” women’s field.) I interviewed last year’s winner Neal Collick this week and published his interview yesterday. Neat guy with a fascinating story about how he got to where he is. Check it out. And here’s an excellent video that shows the technical trails on the UP and how quick and nimble Neal’s legs are.

This essay by Zach Miller really seems to define his character and outlook on work: If you’re doing something–anything–you darn well do it to the best of your ability.

Tom Cruise’s first appearance on the Ultramarathon Daily News: The more he runs in a movie, the more acclaims the movie receives. The math is right this way.

I don’t know, this interview with Lance and how he’s coming clean and how he’d clean up the sport has some holes in it. He wants to distance cycling from the IOC and WADA and have a separate testing body, and that makes sense. But then he also wants to strengthen the rider’s union, which will only shield the riders from further testing. (See NFL/NBA/MLB unions.) Lots to digest here…definitely a compelling read.

Read this: Excellent essay by semi-rad’s Brendan Leonard (URP interview here) about finding nostalgia on the trails. I absolutely have a similar trail, but mine is from my high school days. Here’s “The Beast” that Willits all sorts of emotions and memories each time I run it.

Ten year old Caden Ragsdale from Seattle thought it’d be cool to start his own trail running club and it’s taking off! Check out the group he’s putting together of adults and kids alike. This is the future of our sport, folks. Let’s foster these programs and encourage kids to get on the trails! h/t Kaytlyn.

It’s said that we’re in the Golden Age of American women’s distance running and Gwen Jorgensen is earning her place. What a great story. Any chance we’ll see her on the trails or toeing the line at an ultramarathon?

OK, so, like, how does Strava actually work? Some tech details over here.

I host and manage ultrarunnerpodcast.com, a site devoted to the Mountain/Ultra/Trail running world. We interview a wide range of athletes, conduct honest and extensive product reviews, and report on the daily happenings of the MUT scene.

I’d also recommend scoping out Gary Robbins’ course that he put together for the Whistler Alpine Meadows (WAM) race. It goes through some stunning alpine areas that aren’t going to be as busy as some in the posted article.

Why do we continue to give Lance Armstrong (ptuiii!) any print and attention at all? The dude was/is a fraud and hurt alot of people on his way down. If he had taken responsibility and apologised at all, I might feel different, but he left wreckage behind him and still hasn’t really come clean. Total joke that anyone pays attention to his opinions now, especially on drug testing.

The Outside Mag link on Lance referred to the podcast I heard (http://freakonomics.com/) before I found anything in print. The man’s actions did nothing to me personally. I could do more to forgive *everyone*, which includes him. That said, if he’s talking we need to pay attention to he (and anyone with any power/notoriety/clout) discusses that could affect us; in this instance, that includes him.

One of the reasons Armstrong wants cyclists to get more organized is for their safety but of course the competitions like TDF are monetized heavily and sharing the wealth is not what team owners specialize in nor distribute to the risk-taking athletes. Pro riders have no clout when race organizers put routes together for Grand Tour events and given the 21 stages of a race like the TDF (which imposes a heavy physical toll relatable to ultra runners) it is disappointing that any option Armstrong has is viewed as tainted given his malfeasance.

Only the elite get perks of sponsorship or bonuses for stage wins etc. which is a select few and though most journeyman cyclists get a decent paycheck you might be surprised to learn most riders don’t keep their bikes. It’s team property that gets auctioned off to fat cats with a bank roll to fund the team or goes to other places. No extra perks there. Non union athletes and no negotiation in the process creates a problem for a sport that is international. There is a more to the union argument Armstrong makes but most Ultra Runners only see the this from the saga that revolves around the “Armstrong Lie.” I get it, most people are victims of this broadly speaking if they cheered him on but if they feel it is a personal affront (which I don’t get) I wonder how deep people have truly dug into this story. USA Cycling started blood transfusions in the 1980s when 7/11 (Southland Corp.) was the major sponsor. Cyclists cannot even do advil now when they take a digger on the TDF without a TUE. Take a look at Peter Sagan this week. Armstrong is an SME from the trenches after Chemo and a decent family man too. Let go of the vitriol he has a right to voice. Criticize his thoughts all you want he still achieved some incredible feats event if they are scrubbed from Wikipedia or any other google searches that come up with zilch for the record. The man is rehabbing his life and may never win over some who just see it as a grab for his WEDU business plan but there is a lot more to dig into. Some even bad mouth the guy when he paced someone at WSER. What does that achieve? He role models a fitness lifestyle…

Union or no these athletes suffer for their passion through exhaustion, and high risk speeds that puts them in positions that can lead to fatalities or career ending accidents. The Team owners have a stake in ratings and advertising so the typical blue collar cyclist and a more robust union would provide some balance in the income disparity. Armstrong is interested in resolving that problem but small minded folk are still scorched and I guess its the Pete Rose effect.

Armstrong suggests that if riders get a share of the profit from TV deals then they may be inclined to self-police regarding doping because if everyone thinks riders are doping, viewership may decline thereby hurting profits. I can’t say if this is what would actually happen, but I’m not sure the doping/testing issue has gotten better in the last few decades anyways. Overall, I think the doping issue has become hyper-scrutinized in cycling as compared to other sports. As mentioned by Mark, riders can’t take simple pain medication after wrecks (Advil or something) while that certainly wouldn’t be the case in other sports like the NFL. I’m all for continued testing, but not everything in cycling should come down to doping.

Scott Patterson gets the attention in the article, for good reason, but I’m surprised to see little mention of Allan Spangler who is also running and one of only four people to break 3 hours. It’ll be really interesting to hear how this one plays out. Local trail knowledge could play a pivotal role in this one for sure.

Lance and many other rider-advocates are pushing for a rider union for two main reasons: profit-sharing of TV broadcasting (of which the riders currently get 0%) and course safety (the riders currently have no say or veto when race organizers decide that they want to make things more “interesting” for TV by including dangerous corners in the final sprint section or dangerous cobblestone sections). Lance is certainly very opinionated and arguably still a bit of an A-hole, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong 😉

The Freakonomics podcast with Lance was a turning point for me. I’m the same age as Lance, I was a fan, I believed him. And I was really disappointed and felt like a sucker when it all came out. I understand giving in to the doping system, I don’t condone it for sure. But I really disliked him over his treatment of his accusers and others. He sounds like he’s made amends, and he seems pretty contrite now. And if I believe in second (and third…) chances, I guess I can offer him the same.
This weekend I asked my 22 year old daughter what she thought of Lance. She really has no opinion of him, other than she knows him as the guy who got busted doping. Just another busted doper.
I think that many of us who lived through that time are pretty jaded. We believed in guys like Lance, and Barry Bonds, and all the others and then found out they were dopers all along. It’s so unfortunate that many of us can’t fully shake that skepticism now when we see Kilian or other endurance athletes doing such amazing things. To be clear, I don’t think he’s doping. But I’d be lying if I said there’s not a tiny voice in the back of my brain saying “yeah, but you’ve been fooled by this before”. I feel bad for guys who are clean and have to deal with the comments and accusations because of the actions of others.

I’d also recommend scoping out Gary Robbins’ course that he put together for the Whistler Alpine Meadows (WAM) race. It goes through some stunning alpine areas that aren’t going to be as busy as some in the posted article.

Why do we continue to give Lance Armstrong (ptuiii!) any print and attention at all? The dude was/is a fraud and hurt alot of people on his way down. If he had taken responsibility and apologised at all, I might feel different, but he left wreckage behind him and still hasn’t really come clean. Total joke that anyone pays attention to his opinions now, especially on drug testing.

The Outside Mag link on Lance referred to the podcast I heard (http://freakonomics.com/) before I found anything in print. The man’s actions did nothing to me personally. I could do more to forgive *everyone*, which includes him. That said, if he’s talking we need to pay attention to he (and anyone with any power/notoriety/clout) discusses that could affect us; in this instance, that includes him.

One of the reasons Armstrong wants cyclists to get more organized is for their safety but of course the competitions like TDF are monetized heavily and sharing the wealth is not what team owners specialize in nor distribute to the risk-taking athletes. Pro riders have no clout when race organizers put routes together for Grand Tour events and given the 21 stages of a race like the TDF (which imposes a heavy physical toll relatable to ultra runners) it is disappointing that any option Armstrong has is viewed as tainted given his malfeasance.

Only the elite get perks of sponsorship or bonuses for stage wins etc. which is a select few and though most journeyman cyclists get a decent paycheck you might be surprised to learn most riders don’t keep their bikes. It’s team property that gets auctioned off to fat cats with a bank roll to fund the team or goes to other places. No extra perks there. Non union athletes and no negotiation in the process creates a problem for a sport that is international. There is a more to the union argument Armstrong makes but most Ultra Runners only see the this from the saga that revolves around the “Armstrong Lie.” I get it, most people are victims of this broadly speaking if they cheered him on but if they feel it is a personal affront (which I don’t get) I wonder how deep people have truly dug into this story. USA Cycling started blood transfusions in the 1980s when 7/11 (Southland Corp.) was the major sponsor. Cyclists cannot even do advil now when they take a digger on the TDF without a TUE. Take a look at Peter Sagan this week. Armstrong is an SME from the trenches after Chemo and a decent family man too. Let go of the vitriol he has a right to voice. Criticize his thoughts all you want he still achieved some incredible feats event if they are scrubbed from Wikipedia or any other google searches that come up with zilch for the record. The man is rehabbing his life and may never win over some who just see it as a grab for his WEDU business plan but there is a lot more to dig into. Some even bad mouth the guy when he paced someone at WSER. What does that achieve? He role models a fitness lifestyle…

Union or no these athletes suffer for their passion through exhaustion, and high risk speeds that puts them in positions that can lead to fatalities or career ending accidents. The Team owners have a stake in ratings and advertising so the typical blue collar cyclist and a more robust union would provide some balance in the income disparity. Armstrong is interested in resolving that problem but small minded folk are still scorched and I guess its the Pete Rose effect.

Armstrong suggests that if riders get a share of the profit from TV deals then they may be inclined to self-police regarding doping because if everyone thinks riders are doping, viewership may decline thereby hurting profits. I can’t say if this is what would actually happen, but I’m not sure the doping/testing issue has gotten better in the last few decades anyways. Overall, I think the doping issue has become hyper-scrutinized in cycling as compared to other sports. As mentioned by Mark, riders can’t take simple pain medication after wrecks (Advil or something) while that certainly wouldn’t be the case in other sports like the NFL. I’m all for continued testing, but not everything in cycling should come down to doping.

Scott Patterson gets the attention in the article, for good reason, but I’m surprised to see little mention of Allan Spangler who is also running and one of only four people to break 3 hours. It’ll be really interesting to hear how this one plays out. Local trail knowledge could play a pivotal role in this one for sure.

Lance and many other rider-advocates are pushing for a rider union for two main reasons: profit-sharing of TV broadcasting (of which the riders currently get 0%) and course safety (the riders currently have no say or veto when race organizers decide that they want to make things more “interesting” for TV by including dangerous corners in the final sprint section or dangerous cobblestone sections). Lance is certainly very opinionated and arguably still a bit of an A-hole, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong 😉

The Freakonomics podcast with Lance was a turning point for me. I’m the same age as Lance, I was a fan, I believed him. And I was really disappointed and felt like a sucker when it all came out. I understand giving in to the doping system, I don’t condone it for sure. But I really disliked him over his treatment of his accusers and others. He sounds like he’s made amends, and he seems pretty contrite now. And if I believe in second (and third…) chances, I guess I can offer him the same.
This weekend I asked my 22 year old daughter what she thought of Lance. She really has no opinion of him, other than she knows him as the guy who got busted doping. Just another busted doper.
I think that many of us who lived through that time are pretty jaded. We believed in guys like Lance, and Barry Bonds, and all the others and then found out they were dopers all along. It’s so unfortunate that many of us can’t fully shake that skepticism now when we see Kilian or other endurance athletes doing such amazing things. To be clear, I don’t think he’s doping. But I’d be lying if I said there’s not a tiny voice in the back of my brain saying “yeah, but you’ve been fooled by this before”. I feel bad for guys who are clean and have to deal with the comments and accusations because of the actions of others.